Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg

Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg (29 November 1856-1 January 1921) was Chancellor of the German Empire from 14 July 1909 to 13 July 1917, succeeding Bernhard von Bulow and preceding Georg Michaelis.

Biography
Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg was born in Hohenfinow, Prussia on 29 November 1856, and he entered the Prussian administratiive service in 1882. He became commissioner of the Prussian province of Brandenburg in 1899. Bethmann-Hollweg served as Interior Minister in 1905 and Secretary of State for Home Affairs in 1907, and he became Chancellor of the German Empire in 1909. Bethmann-Hollweg tried to seek the consent of the Reichstag as little as possible, with the result that urgently needed reforms (such as financial reforms) could not take place. The political stalemate and Germany's increasing inability to find the necessary finances to keep up with the arms race contributed directly to the crisis that led to World War I. He also unconditionally supported Austria-Hungary after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, hoping that any ensuing war would be restricted to the Russian Empire. From 1916, he was subjected to Paul von Hindenburg's direction of the war, and he was dismissed the following year.